Products that affordably re-create the appearance of today's luxury home exteriors have been embraced by the home improvement markets. To provide a few examples, manufactured veneer stone creates the look of stacked-stone foundations, stamped-and-stained concrete mimics flagstone pathways, and architectural shingles emulate slate roofs just to name a few. These products are generally used in the embellishment of moderately-priced homes to enhance their exterior appearance, or “curb-appeal,” without incurring the increased costs associated with the high-end products that are being mimicked. It is clear that homeowners, realtors, builders and architects are seeking products which can affordably embellish the exterior of lower to medium value homes so that when these products are installed, they create the appearance that a more modest home has features that consumers typically associate with more expensive luxury homes.
With today's shrinking urban and suburban building lots and the desire of many cities and towns to increase urban density, builders have been forced to build structures in closer proximity to the street than was common in the past. As a result, the residential garage door has become a prominent feature of modern lower-to-medium value homes, encompassing as much as forty percent of the street-view elevation of these homes. Such homes have predominantly been built with garage doors comprising a plurality of horizontal panels stacked vertically and connected via hinges, and retracting into the structure on an overhead channel track with spring-loading assistance. To manage costs the panels of these garage doors have generally been manufactured with stamped-steel exterior coverings, which have little to no visual interest. With the prominent position of the garage door in today's homes it would be beneficial to have a product available that allows a user to affordably embellish the appearance of an existing metal articulating panel overhead garage door to simulate the appearance of vintage, solid-wood carriage-style garage doors of the type that are found on much more expensive luxury homes.
In contrast to garage doors built of metal panels, many high end luxury homes are constructed with an overhead articulating multi-panel garage door that raises and lowers via a track and spring method and is made of either solid wood or a combination of metal underlayment with wood overlaid onto the exterior. A carriage style house door of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,586,085 to Jellá, (2003.) The garage door described by Jellá is manufactured with a plurality of dimensional wood overlays bonded to one another and arranged in patterns that give the appearance that the overhead door is actually a set of vintage solid-wood rail and stile carriage-house doors which open transversely via side hinges. The manufacture of these high-end garage doors includes staining and sealing all wood portions to the elements such that once installed, the beauty of the wood is exposed to the exterior of the home, giving the home's garage door a vintage appearance.
Wooden carriage-style garage doors such as those disclosed by Jellá tend to be expensive to purchase and difficult to install. As such, they tend to not be an option if a homeowner wants to add a real wood appearance to an existing garage door. At the present time there is no option known to applicant that allows a homeowner to achieve the look of a wooden garage door other than the complete removal and replacement of an existing garage door. Not only is total replacement of an existing garage door expensive, but it often requires the additional expenses associated with upgrades to the structure's framing, track system, springs and electric opener to support the increased weight and thickness of the new garage door. Further, replacement of a metal garage door often requires the services of a contractor, with associated expenses. The bottom line is that garage door replacement may be too expensive for the average homeowner and outside the homeowner's normal skills, since most homeowners are not skilled in the art of garage door manufacture and installation.
The increasing popularity of carriage-house style garage doors is made apparent by the fact that garage door manufacturers such as Clopay Building Products R& D Company, Inc. (current website at www.clopaydoor.com) have recently begun producing overhead articulating-panel garage doors to include metal exterior panels into which patterns are permanently stamped that mimic the appearance and structure of rail and stile carriage-house doors. With these products, multiple decorative polystyrene overlay members are applied to the exterior portion of doors to give a three-dimensional appearance that closely simulates the structure of those vintage carriage-house doors. However for a user to upgrade to these doors they must purchase a completely new garage door and have their existing track system altered to accommodate the increased weight and thickness of that new garage door. Therefore this method is not an option for someone looking to embellish an already-existing garage door. Furthermore since these stamped panel garage doors are constructed of metal and polystyrene and primed to be painted once installed, there is no way to gain the appearance of a solid-wood carriage-house door through this method.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,896 to Pinto et al. provides a method to embellish a pre-manufactured multi-panel articulating overhead non-wood garage door so that the finished door has the appearance of a rail and stile door. In this patent, a plurality of extruded polystyrene members is overlaid onto to a garage door before initial installation in a design that is customizable by the end user. This method requires that the pre-manufactured garage door be placed in a jig which approximates the opening framed in the structure into which the door will be installed. The polystyrene members are permanently adhered to the exterior surface of the garage door then cut to allow the door's panels to articulate correctly. Modification of an existing garage door according to this patent is beyond the abilities of someone not skilled in garage door manufacture and installation. Moreover, modification of the door is performed prior to initial installation of the garage door, and therefore not intended to embellish a garage door which is already installed into a structure. Pinto's method creates a permanent bond between the overlay component and the underlying garage door, making the overlaid panels non-removable. And since the overlaid panels are polystyrene, the final finish would typically be paint and not solid wood. Pinto specifically calls out wood as an inadequate component of garage door overlays in general, which eliminates this method from use when one wishes to enhance their existing garage door to appear to be made from solid wood with a carriage-house style.
US Patent Application Publication No. US 2009/0107047 A1 filed by Magill et al. details a method wherein individual garage door panels are created using multiple metal skins. Pultruded fiber-reinforced thermoset material is adhered to the outer or inner skins (or both) of metal panels with a permanent adhesive that allows for the different thermal expansions of the disparate materials involved. While the adhesive method and design of the overlay panel are left undefined, this method is specific to the manufacture of garage doors prior to installation and does not provide for a method of overlaying a garage door that has already been installed in a structure. Furthermore, as before the use of a non-wood material for the overlay panel that is permanently bonded to the underlying panel excludes the product from use where the homeowner desires to embellish an already-installed garage door to appear as if it is a solid-wood, carriage-house styled door.
There is a need, therefore, for apparatus for upgrading and enhancing the appearance of existing metal garage doors, especially apparatus that may be installed by the typical homeowner without the complete removal and replacement of the existing garage door.